Barcelona Continued

At the top of Las Ramblas is Placa de Catalunya. Plac. de Cat. is a huge public square/traffic intersection that kind of divides the old part of the city from the new. OK, describing it as a traffic intersection makes it sound kind of souless and gritty, but actually it's quite grand. It's full of people, surrounded by stores and cafes, and has approximately umpteen streets branching off from it.

Placa de Catalunya, the "sometimes I miss my mom" statue.

The Barcelona cathedral sits just about in the middle of the Gothic part of town. Construction of the cathedral began in 1298 (and lasted 600 years). Yes, the church is old. Be impressed. But not too impressed because it's sitting on top of 2000-year-old Roman ruins. If you go to the nearby City History museum, you can take an elavator underground and walk around parts of Roman Barcelona that have been excavated. Pretty cool. Anyway, back to the cathedral. Supposedly the Native Americans that Columbus brought over from the "New World" were baptised in this church. Also in the cathedral are the remains of St. Eulalia. She's the patron saint of Barcelona, a 13-year-old who was crucified on an X-shaped cross. Gruesome, I know. But trust me, when there's a saint involved, it's usually not a pretty story, people.

Cathedral: front altar and faces next to Eulalia's tomb.